Published Date: 2005-05-31 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Strangles, equine - USA (DE)
Archive Number: 20050531.1517

STRANGLES, EQUINE - USA (DELAWARE)
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A ProMED-mail post
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ProMED-mail, a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: 31 May 2005
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: APP.COM [edited]
<http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005505280413>

Disease forces action at track
Monmouth Park halts shipping from Delaware
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Monmouth Park [a horse-racing track in Oceanport, New Jersey] will no
longer allow any horses that are stabled at Delaware Park to ship in, due
to a confirmed case of strangles reported Thursday at Delaware Park.
Monmouth horses shipped to Delaware will not be permitted back. Horses who
have been to Delaware, but are not permanently stabled there, can race at
Monmouth.
Strangles is an extremely infectious respiratory disease.
The policy will be reviewed by June 2. The New York Racing Association
implemented a similar policy.
"It's a necessary precaution that is essential for the protection of horses
stabled here at Monmouth," said Dennis Dowd, senior vice president/racing
for the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. "It's a difficult
decision when you're forced to place restrictions on anyone, but paramount
to racing is the health of our equine athletes and we'll take all the
necessary precautions to protect those interests."
In addition, Monmouth Park will continue its policy that all horses that
ship to Monmouth must have a valid health certificate.
Trainer Peter Walder is a regular on the road between Monmouth and
Delaware, and has horses stuck between racetracks. "It confines me from
shipping," he said. "I have a horse (at Delaware) Sunday and I'll leave her
there with (trainer) Bob Klesaris. I'd scratch her [remove her from the
race], but it's been hard finding a race for her."
Horses with strangles usually have discharges from the nostrils as well as
abscesses in the lymph glands under the jaw. It is seldom fatal and most
horses will recover fully, but even a mild case can take a racehorse out of
training for up to 3 months. Anything an infected horse touches is a
possible source of infection.
Walder doesn't think the quarantine goes far enough. "I talked to (Monmouth
Park general manager) Bob Kulina and said don't allow any horses from
Delaware in at all," Walder said. "This could blow up big-time. There's 4
main concerns about the way they can get it. In the paddock, in the test
barn, the starting gate, and the pony to the post. A pony takes 10 horses a
day and the racehorses slobber all over the pony. The test barn is a
confined stall. Are you going to tell me they disinfect the stall or the
starting gate?"
The Monmouth Park racing office is waiting to see if the Delaware
quarantine will affect racing here, although if it spreads to Philadelphia
or New York, it could have a major effect on field sizes.
"It hurts us here because we need shippers," Walder said.
Delaware Park had put its own restrictions on horses from Florida and
Kentucky earlier in the year. Churchill Downs; its training facility,
Trackside Louisville; Gulfstream Park; Palm Meadows Training Center; and
Tampa Bay Downs all quarantined barns for periods this spring due to
strangles infections.
The confirmed case in Delaware came a week after Indiana Downs canceled
live racing on 19 May 2005 due to 2 possible cases of strangles.
[Byline: Howard Bass]
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[In many states strangles is a reportable disease, because it is so very
contagious. It is caused by the bacterium _Streptococcus equi_. It is
easily spread between horses, often leading to large outbreaks. The
discharges (pus) from the nose and burst abscesses spread the disease.
Objects such as water troughs, feed buckets, brushes, reins, and other
equipment, if contaminated with infected pus, can also spread the disease.
Horses can easily spread the disease for up to 8 months after they have
recovered, even though they can appear clinically healthy and normal (see
<http://www.cyberhorse.net.au/csl/strangles.htm#Cause>).
Immunity from the disease is very short, and evidence suggests that as many
as 25 percent of recovered horses do not mount an immune response. However,
vaccination reduces the likelihood of disease, and in the face of disease
reduces the severity as well as the number of animals that may be affected.
- Mod.TG]
[see also
Strangles, equine - USA (multistate)(02): proposed rule, FL 20050407.0999
Strangles, equine - USA (multistate) 20050402.0950
Strangles, equine - USA (CA) 20050313.0739
2004
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Strangles, equine - USA (GA) 20040419.1088
1997
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Strangles, horses - USA (Louisiana) 19971203.2416
Strangles / equine influenza, horses - Philippines 19971123.2354]
............tg/pg/mpp

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